Quick: name five Finnish clean tech start-ups. You may have trouble with that one… in fact, you may have trouble naming any Finnish companies beyond Nokia. That doesn’t mean that such companies don’t exist; rather, as I heard from a number of business people and entrepreneurs this past week during the Finnfacts Clean Technology Blogger Tour, modesty is a big part of the Finnish national character (as much as such things exist, anyway). The bold, even brash, tech entrepreneur? They’re in relatively short supply here.

While many Finns may lack a strong desire to self-promote, there’s clearly no lack of innovation here… all of us on the tour saw numerous developments with which we were greatly impressed. That creativity will play a big role in making sure this small country has a role to play in the global shift towards a low-carbon economy. The other big factor that struck all of us in the tour group: Finland’s methodical creation of a infrastructure for knowledge-sharing and financial support.

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